The scale of this disaster is only gradually coming into view. When the tropical storm made its second landfall during the night Tuesday (8.29.17), it dumped a massive amount of rains on towns throughout southeastern Texas that, it appears, were totally unprepared. Here is a clip from today’s NY Times story with a link. (Note: the Times is NOT requiring a paid subscription during this emergency.)
“The geographic scope of this event is probably what is going to make it one of the most costly flood disasters in U.S. history,” said Samuel Brody, the director of the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores at Texas A&M University’s Galveston campus. “I’ve seen heavy rain, I’ve seen 30, 40 inches, but not over such a large geographic area, impacting rich, poor, black, white, you name it.”
Pastureland and swampland, cane fields and forests alike began to look like a mud-clouded, Texas version of ark country. Crosby, 25 miles northeast of Houston, faced not only flooding but reports of explosionsThursday when refrigeration that kept compounds at a chemical plant stable failed.